Afghans break the violent global silence with love 2
March 24, 2010 by
Filed under Journey Updates
Please watch Faiz, Mohd Jan and Zekerullah join Abdullah in breaking the Afghan silence
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEukg9T9S2E
Zekerullah’s peace
It’s been more than 30 years of wars in Afghanistan
Faiz,is it logical to raise the voice of peace in a scenario of war & bloodshed?
Yes, we have an Afghan proverb which says that ‘droplet by droplet, a river will form. In this darkness,
brightness & light are needed.
Faiz’s river
A desperate, confused, proud & deceptive in-humanity is lingering over Afg
Mohd Jan, is it logical to think that love, compassion & mercy can work in a global culture of selfishness? Yes, because selfishness will ultimately kill us all while love preserves our humanity.
Mohd Jan’s humanity
Victory needs to be lovingly re-defined in Afghanistan
Zekerullah , is it logical to want peace when the whole world wants victory in the Afghan war?
Yes, because in the end, it is in peace that victory is found.
American 15-year-old Elisa to Afghan 14-year-old Abdulai : “My friend…we are human, we must try our best. Don’t let go of your hope.”
Abdulai, is it logical for you to struggle for love in a world full of hate?
Yes, because one day, love will triumph!
YOUTH PEACE VOLUNTEERS OF AFGHANISTAN
Our Journey to Smile
See historic videos by these Afghan youth participate in a live discussion to Afghanistan
Tickets: OFS members $5, General $8, Youth $3
Historic Capitol Theater
(360) 754-6670 www.olympiafilmsociety.org
Saturday March 27 6:30 pm
Olympia Film Society
206 5th Avenue SE ~ Downtown Olympia
Washington, USA
In Washington D.C, the broadcast will be at Busboys and Poets (5th and K st), 9pm EST
A project of the northwest peace movement & Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation
Our Journey to Smile’s Afghan Videos will be broadcast with ‘live narration’on Saturday March 27 6:30 pm at Historic Capitol Theater in Olympia, Washington USA, with simultaneous broadcasts in Washington DC ( Busboys and Poets 5th and K st) 9pm EST) Conn & New York
Afghans break the global, violent silence with love
March 22, 2010 by
Filed under Journey Updates
Please hear a 14 year old Afghan boy break the global, violent silence with love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULhGa5w08mQ
Abdulai’s voice of peace
Our Journey to Smile’s Afghan Videos will be broadcast live on Saturday March 27 6:30 pm at Historic Capitol Theater in Olympia, Washington USA, with simultaneous broadcasts in Washington DC, Conn & New York
American 15-year-old Elisa to Afghan 14-year-old Abdulai : “My friend, it’s a terrible feeling when you are trying to speak & no one can hear.We are children, our voices are so small. We are human, we must try our best. Don’t let go of your hope.”
Abdulai’s love
Abdulai, is it logical for you to struggle for love in a world full of hate?
Yes, because one day, love will triumph!
The Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers
YOUTH PEACE VOLUNTEERS OF AFGHANISTAN
Our Journey to Smile
See historic videos by these Afghan youth participate in a live discussion to Afghanistan
Tickets: OFS members $5, General $8, Youth $3
Historic Capitol Theater
(360) 754-6670 www.olympiafilmsociety.org
Saturday March 27 6:30 pm
Olympia Film Society
206 5th Avenue SE ~ Downtown Olympia
Washington, USA
In Washington D.C, the broadcast will be at Busboys and Poets (5th and K st), 9pm EST
A project of the northwest peace movement & Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation
An Afghan Grandma tells her dark war story & gives advice
March 18, 2010 by
Filed under Journey Updates
Please listen to an Afghan grandma’s story and advice on war
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dM0JYbcgZmU
They set the houses on fire…smoke…smoke that darkened the skies.
We fled to Baba mountains, so hungry & thirsty. Drop dripped from my bare feet…oh forget it…snow up to the waist
A small old man had fallen into the river towards Bihsud. He was bald & he stopped breathing in the river…there were 2 or 3 corpses in the mosque too
3 persons were killed at Nao Joi, their feet were bare in the snow… I was so.o.o.o… frightened that I was shivering. Would they kill me next? They asked, “Where is your son? I told them he was not around.”
“Do you have chickens?,”they asked. “No, uncle, I have no chickens.” They fired at my yard & house…such shaking! They had already taken a black chicken I had bought. I thought,” With faith in God, what should I do?”
Hakim, those were the days.
Those were bad days?
Those were such bad days…such bad days
Why does a human kill another human?
I can’t get to the bottom of it ( I don’t understand )…
Recently, foreign forces wanted to kill insurgents but killed civilians instead
Killed civilians? Oh…they did wrong…don’t kill innocent people
They were quiet in their houses…why should they be killed?
What advice do you have for the youth?
My advice is: no war, for peace in the world, no trouble.
Be very afraid of wars…
Can anything be built from taking revenge?
No…nothing can be built from revenge.
Boys, say it, should the people of Afghanistan be at peace or fight?
Be at peace.
Be at peace and don’t shed blood.
An Afghan grandma’s dark war memories
grandma’s story in the dark
Love’s seed in an insecure Afghan province
March 11, 2010 by
Filed under Journey Updates
Please watch Afghan Youth speak for peace in an insecure Afghan province
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srLM3Yiwc4A
the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers
The Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers traveled to Dai Kundi Province
Dai Kundi is mountain-isolated & war was raging in 2 of its districts during our visit to this neglected place
?About 50 youth of Dai Kundi met the Bamiyan youth for a Peace Program
Though there was a deep hopeless-ness, the hunger for love & peace was even greater
We are truly surprised & proud that such Afghan youth exist at all…
Despite difficulties & limited resources, they’re raising the voice of peace in Afg.
I personally pledge my support ; we can only raise the voice of peace through love & brotherhood.
Not only for peace in Afg but also the world…only love can plant the roots of peace in the world
Is your home-country peaceful?
This is the story…( words not clear )…shooting & shooting & shooting….& they couldn’t kill….
Coming to Dai Kundi has been a happy trip for us. There are trees etc…but life here is difficult.
We haven’t seen any happiness in these 30 years of war. In the future, we should make friends with Pushtoons, Hazaras, Uzbeks & Tajiks. We have a bad ‘culture’ of keeping a distance from one another
People should understand the true situation in Afghanistan
Without ( accurate ) information, people should not judge us
I request American youth to be ‘of one hand’ ( united ) with us for peace
Those who are in contact with us, don’t abandon us. Please be with us in our message of peace
The Afghan seeds of love and peace are being sown, person to person
And like the almond trees in Dai Kundi, we hope for love & peace to grow
almond trees in Dai Kundi
A fatherless Afghan boy remembers Iraq Memorial to Life
March 8, 2010 by
Filed under Journey Updates
Abdulai the Afghan boy remembers those killed in Iraq, just as he remembers his father
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F647Zn4iqY8
Abdulai at his father’s and grandfather’s grave
My dad & grand-dad were killed & this morning I went to their graves to remember them
We the people of the world should restore the sacred value of life
We should revive true spirituality & recover our love
I grieve for every person killed in the Iraq war because that grief has also broken my heart
To our friends of Iraq Memorial to Life, our hearts are with you
Iraq Memorial to Life
Iraq Memorial to Life www.iraqmemorialtolife.org will have their New York Central Park Dedication Ceremony starting this Sunday the 14th of March 2010
Below are some of the event’s highlights.
Iraq Memorial to Life Announcement
March 19, 2010 marks the seventh year since the US-led invasion of Iraq exploded into the lives of most everyone on earth. The hopes of nearly 20 million people demonstrating around the globe on February 15, 2003 where shattered; they’d tried and stop the madness before it started. To date, 4,380 US soldiers have been killed (icasualties.org, 3/4/10).
By some accounts over 1,300,000 Iraqi civilians are believed dead as a result (justforeignpolicy.org).
The Iraq Memorial to Life (IMtL) remembers the lives of these civilians. This year it will first be installed in Central Park, New York City, on March 14th. It will then be placed on The National Mall, Washington D.C., at the base of the Washington Monument facing the White House on the seventh anniversary, March 19, 2010. The traveling Arlington Midwest Memorial remembering the US service women and men killed will be set up near by.
Help build this memorial from your home. Please make as many markers as you can.
Visiting the memorial website marker page http://www.oly-wa.us/iraqmemorial/Markers.php you will see the list of markers yet to be made for individuals and for incidents (data from IraqBodyCount.org). It takes about 5 minutes to choose and make a marker. We will keep making markers until it is over; until it stops and reparations begin in earnest.
Send markers as soon as possible to: IMTL – Peace of the Action, PO Box 21591, Washington DC 20009.
Please help fund the memorial. It does cost us to laminate these – please give even a small amount; anything helps!
Checks may be made out to Fellowship of Reconciliation (“IMtL” on the memo line), 521 N. Broadway, Nyack, NY 10960. You may also donate online at the website www.iraqmemorialtolife.org.
Help build this memorial on site. Arrive at the memorial site early to help set it up. Please be one of the volunteers that help set up the memorials in Central Park, NYC, or at the Washington Monument in Washington DC.
CAN WE COUNT ON YOU TO HELP? KINDLY LET US KNOW: mailto:douglas.mackey@iraqmemorialtolife.org
NYC Central Park, Sunday March 14, 2010: Arrive as early as you can, between 5 and 7 am, at 72nd Street and 5th Avenue entrance of Central Park; signs will direct you to memorial set up leaders wearing white arm bands.
The Central Park Dedication Ceremony will be held at 12:00 pm at the IMtL Banner in Rumsey Playfield area.
(If you are making markers – and you know you can get them to NY by March 13th please send them to: IMtL – Lynne Mackey Studio, 261 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001-1902 (212) 352-0668.)
Washington DC, Washington Monument (north), Thursday & Friday March 18 & 19, 2010:
3/18: 10am – 3pm Memorial organizers will lead a learn-about (teach-in) about the memorial at north side of the Washington Monument, site of the memorial, markers will be made and the memorial will be laid out on the ground for final installation. Join volunteers at 6:30pm V-St. Busboys & Poets to hear Dahr Jamail and Sam Husseini present: Remember Iraq – 7 Years and Counting. 3/19: 8am – 11pm Placing the Memorials.
Visit the Iraq Memorial to Life, 2010.
Central Park, Rumsey Playfield & Strawberry Fields ~ Rowand Suleiman’s marker, 1 yr old girl. NYC, Sunday March 14:
72nd Street entrances of Central Park (E or W); signs will direct you to the memorial. Dedication Ceremony will be held at 12:00pm with Douglas Mackey, Salam Hassan, Mark Johnson, and others.
Washington DC, Washington Monument (north), Open daily from March 19 – March 22, Sunrise to Sunset
3/19: 9:30pm Candlelight Procession; 10:30pm Silent Observance concurrent in several US locations.
3/20: 10:00 am Dedication Ceremony with Josh Stieber, Salam Hassan, Dahr Jamail, Mark Johnson, Cindy Sheehan, and others. Dedication closes with Path of Understanding ceremony.
3/22: 10:00 am (tentative) Closing Ceremony – A reading from the people of Iraq. Help take down the memorial and pack it for the future.
For more information, contact:
Douglas Mackey, IMtL Coordinator (360) 485-3764
mailto:douglas.mackey@iraqmemorialtolife.org
Iraq Memorial to Life, Traditions Fair Trade, 300 5th Ave. SW, Olympia, WA 98503